fantasy and reality
by Wow what's this
Summary: i'm curious, how do you distinguish fantasy and reality, the unreal and real? how do you know this isn't a dream that we're stuck in? a dream we'll never wake up from, and somebody out there is hoping you'll open your eyes, but you've a life of your own already. / i fought demons, and people. i met gods, demigods, and mortals. now i have people saying that none of that was real.


**Have a story that expands upon chapter eight of Drabbles.**

* * *

I couldn't remember my life before I was three years old. My father said it was normal, so I thought nothing of it at the time. In fact, I never thought of it until now.

Let me tell you a story.

Ever since I was six, I could see things nobody else could see. They ranged from boys with goat legs to ugly ladies on fire. I made the mistake of telling my dad once, who literally thought I was crazy. I played that off as a joke, and he let me off with a warning to never scare him like that again.

However, it got worse as time went on. The demons, as I called them, started attacking me when no one was watching. Actually, sometimes they did when people were, but nobody helped me. It was strange, like they couldn't see the demon for who they really were.

It was horrible. They were always looking at me with that evil glint in their eye, like they wanted to kill me. _Nobody noticed_. It was similar to a book I read once. There were these monsters, and only special people could see what they were. I never really understood it (mostly because I'm dyslexic), but it was sort of relatable.

If you remove the demons from my life, it was actually pretty decent. That is, until my father died when I was eleven and I was sent to live with my rude, religious aunt in New York. She was alright, and I couldn't really hold that against her. It was the way she was raised, after all.

Someone who I nicknamed Mr. Goat Legs, or Afon, as I found out later, basically kidnapped me from my home a year later. He told me that it wasn't safe for me here without training and all that stuff. When I wouldn't come willingly, he had to drag me— _and who knew a scrawny kid like Mr. Goat Legs could be so strong?_

So, Afon showed me around Camp Half-Blood, and told me about demigods, the monsters and the Mist. It definetly explained the demons and why nobody but me could see them.

I met a lot of people, including the 'leaders' of the camp, Percy and Annabeth. They were cute together, honestly. I didn't see why so many people (namely the Aphrodite girls, but only the bitchy ones) wanted to break them apart; they were obviously made for each other.

I found out I was a daughter of Aphrodite, and honestly? It made sense. I loved romance films and TV shows, and had this strange ability to sense love rolling off as waves from couples. I would have loved to be a daughter of Athena or Demeter, but Aphrodite was pretty awesome too.

I fought in the war against Kronos, watched as Luke sacrificed himself, broke down at the news of Silena's death, survived multiple attacks from monsters (and Drew), heard how Piper took head counsellor's spot from Drew (thank the gods) and waited in anticipation for the Argo II crew to come back.

Now, here I am, dying because of the war against Gaia. We better win that war, for the sake of us, the gods, and the world. I hear yells and screams, but I know I am dying. It's painful, but not nearly as scary as I thought it would be. I didn't feel horrified, only resigned; I knew I was going to die.

So, as I took my last breath and my eyes rolled to the back of my head, the only regret I had was not fighting harder.

* * *

I thought I would wake up in the Underworld, and see Charon and people waiting in the lobby. My predictions weren't even close.

I'm laying down in a dark room; one I've never seen before. I can see people moving outside the room. Some are in those moving hospital beds, and some are wearing face masks that nurses and doctors use— _wait, why the fuck am I in a hospital? Couldn't they feed me ambrosia and heal me in camp?_

I sat up and stood up, walking to the door and opening it. Immediately, a nurse noticed me and gasped, her notepad faling out of her hands in shock.

"Malia?" she asked, and I was confused, because my name was Coral, not Malia. I looked around, wondering if anyone had responded to her, then looked back at the nurse.

She had picked up her notepad and was walking towards me. When she reached me, she asked, "Malia, honey, are you alright? Do you remember anything?"

I had no idea what the hell she was talking about, and why she was calling me Malia. Did camp sign me up as Malia to protect me?

But, anyways, I replied, "I died. Where am I?"

"No, Malia. You were in a car accident; do you remember that? Your family, do you remember them? Your sister visits you every single day, and your mother and father send notes monthly."

 _A car accident? Is that what they played it off as? My family? Did someone pretend to be them?_

"Oh," I said, because what do you say when someone tells you that?

The nurse looked at her watch, then glanced at the end of the hallway, where a short, brown-haired girl was rounding the corner. The nurse smiled, and motioned to her.

"There's your sister now. I'll leave you guys to talk," and I was now completely snd utterly confused. I had never seen that girl in my life... was she a new camper?

The brown-haired girl—my sister, apparently—widened her eyes when she saw me. "Malia!" she yelled, surging forward and tackling me in a bone-crushing hug.

"You're awake! Thank god you're awake!" Okay, this girl was definitely a new camper, because which demigod says 'thank god'? Plus, why was she still calling me Malia?

"You're a new camper, right?" I asked the girl, who looked confused.

"Don't you remember me? I'm Kira, your sister. You know... that girl you lived with your whole life before the accident?" _I never had a sister, what is this girl going on about?_

"What accident? You mean the war against Gaia?" She has to be someone from camp, who else would wait every day for her to wake up?

My 'sister' shook her head, "Do you really not remember me, or Mom, or Dad? What about the night of the car accident, two years ago? Anything?"

"No, wh—wait... I've been asleep for two years? Did Gaia take over? Is CHB okay? Camp Jupiter?"

"What do you mean..? Who told you this..?" Kira asked, frowning. She looked over at the nurse with narrowed eyes, as if the nurse had told me all this.

"You're not from Camp Half-Blood, or Camp Jupiter?" Then who is she, why is she here, and why is she pretending to be my sister?

"No, and I'm taking you to a doctor." She grasped my arm and pulled me towards the reception desk, ignoring my complaints.

* * *

I'm curious, how do you distinguish fantasy and reality, the unreal and real? How do you know this isn't a dream that we're stuck in? A dream we'll never wake up from, and somebody out there is hoping you'll open your eyes, but you've a life of your own already.

I fought monsters, and people.

I met demigods, gods, and mortals.

I can remember my life so vividly. All the pain, sorrow, hopelessness, happiness...

And now, I have people telling me that all that, _everything in my short, demigod life,_ was just my imagination. They told me that Gaia, Luke, Percy, Annabeth, Drew, Piper, Leo, Jason, monsters, Olympians, gods... they don't exist.

They never existed.

Apparently, I was in a coma for two years. My friends and I were driving, and a drunk driver crashed into our car. Piper, Jason, and Leo died, and Drew got out with minor injuries. I went into a coma.

Was that why I couldn't remember my life before three? Was it because I never actually lived it, because I never found the need to imagine it?

How can I just go back to living this life I don't remember?

How can I just believe everyone when they say I'm awake now?

 _How do you distinguish fantasy and reality?_


End file.
